Resilient bulb syringe



July 11, 1,950 G. N. HEIN ETAL RESILIENT BULB SYRINGE Filed Feb. 25, 1947 lli INVENTORS HE//V GEORGE' N. GEO

A 7' TORNE Y.

Patented July 11, 1950 OFFICE RESILIENT BULB SYRINGE y George N. Hein and George. Norton Hein, San Carlos, Calif.; Howard T. Hein and George N. Hein, Jr., executors of the estate of George N.

Hein, deceased ApplicationFebruary 25, I947,SerialNo.' Z30,692

This invention relates broadly to syringes, of the type employing a bowl and a resilient reflex bulb mounted thereon, commonly called bulb syringes. In more specic aspects, it particu- `larly relates to such syringes which have readily interchangeable discharge nozzles.

It is one object of this invention to provide an improved syringe of' the typev employing a bulb and a detachable resilient, generally semispherical reex bulb, having: novel means for detachably xing the bulb to the bowl, of the syringe.

Another' object is to provide a syringe oi' the type employing a resilient reflex bulb, with means -for detachably mounting the bulb on the bow1 of the-syringe, and providing an efficient connection therebetween, and which will be eiiicientagainst leakage of either liquid orV air on either the pressurer or suction stroke of the bulb.

Another object is to provide a syringe employing a bowl for mounting a resilient reiiex ejecting bulb in which lthe bowl and bulb may be readily snapped or pushed into operating position and detached therefrom to facilitate cleaning, or interchange of. nozzles. y

Further objects are to provide a syringe having the above characteristics, all parts of which can be quickly and easily taken apart and replaced together for change of discharge nozzles,

.and which shall be leakproof in action, sterilizable by boiling or otherwise, which'. permits ready accessl to both the internal and external portions for both. inspection and. repair, which` will provide smooth and uniform ejection action, which consists of a minimum number ofl parts which are easily assembled and demounted, and to improve generally upon syringes of thisv type.l

A still further object is to providey a novel efcient syringe for medical, dental or related practitioners, andv which may be equally convenient for unskilled persons to operate and keep clean, and thus offer greater cooperation between the practitioner and theV patientby promoting sanitation and` hygiene; in all instanceswherea bulb syringe is 'efiiciently' useful.

The above and other objects. will be apparent throughout the further. description of the invention when taken in. connection with. the accompanying drawing, whereinv like reference characters, refer to operatively similar parts.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view showing the generally circular plan characteristic of the devices shown in other figures.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section, on line 2l 2-2 of Fig. 1, with,A nozzle shown fragmentarily. Fig. 3 is. an exploded view in vertical transverse section of parts shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 isv a vertical transverse section of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 5 is` an exploded view in vertical transverse section of parts shown` in Fig. 4, and showing in dotted lines a stage of assembly of parts.

The present invention, as exemplified by all figures of the drawing, comprises broadly a reflex bulb ID of resilient material such as rubber, generally circular in top plan view. Preferably the bulb hasa depression in its closed end Il and has its opposite endv I 2 open in substantially circular form, the endwall I3 being transversely :dat and providing circumferential edges or lips I4. Theinner wall I5 of the bulb which has connection at end wallr I3-is substantially perpendicular to theV plane of the open end', and the adjacent outer wall portion I6v is inclined outwardly and upwardly fromV the end wallI I3, terminating in a circumferentially outwardly extended shoulder Il which is spaced'from the end Wall I3. The general form of the bulbv is somewhat 1 semispherical, but preferably somewhat elongated relative to the dimension of its diameter.

The open end of the bulb is-adapted to seatin a syringe bowl t8v which may be formed of any suitable material, such as sheet meta1 or plastic if a substantially rigid bowl is desired, or of relatively stiff rubber if some degree of pliability is desired, though the rigid. bowl is preferred. Centrally of its bottom the bowl has an openingv I8a for. mounting a discharge nozzle. As hereinv illustrated, the openingIa-is a tubular extension which mounts therein the discharge nozzle I9. It is preferred that. the opening throughy the tubular lextensionbe tapered upwardly with. its

.greater diameter extending upwardly adjacent 4the bottom of the bowl, thus providing a conical seat 2l] for the base plugv 2.I of the nozzle., the base plug being correspondingly tapered. Thus, the nozzle, while seating tightly and iirmly, 'as is characteristic of such a conical seat, against pressure within the bulb, nevertheless is readily interchangeable and demountable from the bowl by pressing itaxially upwardly from its seat.- To this endv the'l specific. type of bulb and bowl are especially adapted by the structure thereof for separating and reassembling them to facilitate the demounting and remounting of the discharge nozzle from the inside of the bowl.

The bowl bottom wall inclines upwardly and outwardly from the central discharge opening, as at 22, forming a basin which has, a rounded It is to be, observed that the inturned ange,

26 is of a width approximately similar to the' width of the outwardly extended shoulder I1 of:

the bulb, and also that the vertical length of the side wall 2'5, combined with the groove24, pro-7 vides a depth of side wallto the bowlsomewhat in excess of the length of the vouter rinclined wall I6 at the open end of the bulb, so that 'when the bulb is seated in the bowl,"the shoulder I'I underlies the flange 26 and the end wall I3 of the bulb stops slightly short of seating in the bottom of the groove 24, the bottomA edges or lips I4 of vthe open end wall of the bulb bearing against the linclined walls of the groove where they converge and make a relatively narrow space adjacent the bottom of the groove. When the bulb ris seated on the bowl in this manner, the open end wall of the bulb is slightly deformed at lips I4, as at Illa.l Thus, a narrow line of engagement'is provided between lips I4 and the wall of the groove 24, which has been found to form a leakproof "contact,v even upon exertion of great pressure upon the bulb, and yet, due to the relative inclineof the bowl walls, the open end of the bulb vseats in the groove and also releases therefrom `without any appreciable friction or resistance to l,the'mounting or the removal of the bulb relative -to the bowl.

The resiliency yof the bulb ,permits it to be 'snapped into its seat merely by slight "pressure `jat`its closed end Il, and snapped out of its seat merely by lateral pressure and deformation ad- 'jacent to the shoulder I1 of the side wall. In

order to facilitate the mounting of the bulb on fthe bowl,v it is also preferred that the maximum g diameter of the outer wall of the bulb at the open end I3 shall be slightly less than the diarneter of the top opening 21 of the bowl, ap-

u'proximately im to 1/32 of an inch, just sucient to start the open end of the bulb into the opening of; the bowl, whereupon by a slight pressure at the opposite or closed end of the bulb it may `vbe Areadily snapped to its seat, as in Figs. 2 and 4.

This action is dueto the fact that the open end vwof the resilient bulb deforms radially inwardly lI1 to pass through that opening. In so doing, ,it will be noted, as illustrated in dotted lines in 'Fig. 5, that the ridge or rim 23 of the bowl is spaced inwardly from the circumferential wall of the bowl sov that the diameter of the ridge is ,less than the diameter of the top opening of vthe'bowl, and also that the inner wall of the -groove is inclined outwardly frornthe ridge to .theI bottom of the groove. lend `4of the bulb, when being inserted, will not Astrike upon the apex of the ridge, but rather lupon the inclined wall, whereby the end of the lbulbv isl turned outwardly and directed to its seat the lower portion of the groove 24. It is also Therefore, the open to be noted that the peak of. the ridge 23 is approximately one-half of the' height of the circumferential side wall, for the three purposes iof guiding the open end of the bulb to its seat,

and to prevent the open end of the bulb'from 4 jumping the peak of the ridge if strong lateral pressure should be exerted radially inwardly on the side wall of the bulb adjacent the top of the bowl, particularly in that type of bulb and bowl shown in Fig. 4 in which no locking means is employed, such as the locking ring 3| employed in Fig. 2, and for`= the further purpose of shielding the narrow line of sealing engagement Illa from radially outward pressure when the upper portion of the bulb is collapsed by depressing with the finger of the operator into the central basin of the bowl to completely discharge the contents of the syringe.

Thus far the characteristics of the embodiments of the invention, as shown in all views of the drawings, are substantially the same. Re-

- ferring more 'particularly to the forms of the invention sho-wn in Figs. 2 and 3, it will be noted the the bulb is provided with a circumferential grooved channel 3U recessed in the shoulder Yportion I1, in a direction parallel to the axis of the bulb or longitudinally in respect of such axis.

`The opposed walls of this channel may be parallel or in such other form in vertical section as will receive the flangeddownlcollar or wedge of a locking ring 4to be described, but it is preferred that the channel shall havev its walls provided with relative incline or angle, since this provides a cuneiform seat which is convenient and elicient for receiving and releasing a locking ring 3|. In such a form of channel the inner wall of the channelis the same as the outer wall yof the bulb, and the outer wall of the channel is inclined outwardly and upwardly from the bottom of the channel `3|) to the face of the shoulder I1. Inthis instance it is preferable that the shoulder I'I be slightly wider than the inturned ange 2t.' The locking ring 3l is snugly but slidably mounted upon the exterior of the bulb body, and is provided with a radial flange 32, and a relatively perpendicularly depending collar-like flanged down portion 33 which is herein termed a wedge, using that term more broadly than being restricted to a tapered member and to distinguish in terms from the previ- 'ously mentioned ring 3l and its ange 32. This so-called wedge may be of 'any suitable shape in vertical section to engage within the channel 30, and since a V-shaped channel has been preferred, it is also preferred that the inner Wall of the wedge be straight to correspond with the inner wall of the channel, and that the outer wall of the wedge be angled to correspond generally with the radially outward inclined wall of the channel. The ring 3I'is also provided with finger-grip ears or tabs 34 by which the ring vmay be conveniently pressed in to and released from the channel 30.

Upon pressure of the wedge or collar 33 into the channel 30, the shoulder I1,Iwhich, as stated, is in this instance preferably wider than the inturned flange 26, is pressed and securely locked under the flange, and the ring is also thereby held against inadvertent removal by the frictional engagement. It may be stated also that when the bulb is being depressed in operation of the syringe the resilient side walls of the bulb bulge outward slightly so that the ring could not work upward out of the groove or channel during operation of the syringe, even though the seating of the wedge in the channel were not securely tight. So long as the collar or wedge of the ring is frictionally positioned in the channel the bulb is locked in the bowl against removal axially or by deformationof its side wall inwardly. But upon removalof the ring from within the channel the -shown'in the drawings, though somewhat different in specic structure, are illustrative of the special cooperation of this type of bulb, with the quick and easy removal and replacement of the bu1b',.to facilitate the interchange of nozzles of be. mounted' and demourit'ed from the inside of .the bowl by'ren'iovalV of the bulb. It is preferred that the nozzle base be of resilient material,'rub ber being preferred, though with the conical seat, other materials may be employed if the respective parts are accurately fitted, such as plastics, metals and glass.

It is believed obvious that for syringe purposes the base plug should have an opening 35 therethrough. In Fig. 2 the resilient base plug 2l has the opening therethrough enlarged at its free or protruding end po-rtion, as at 36, and is provided within the length of the enlarged portion of the opening with an annular groove 31, so that the tubular separate nozzle member I9 may be removably inserted therein and firmly but removably held by its end flange 38 seating in the groove 31, 'as well as by the resilient frictional engagement of the nozzle tube by the side walls of the enlarged opening of the plug. Thus, the nozzle in the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 may be interohanged with various types of nozzles by use of the same base plug. nozzle I9 and its rconically tapered base plug 2| are integral., but the types of nozzles in the several views may also be interchanged byreason of the uniformity of the conical seat and the conical base plug in each of the devices.

Since the conical seat for the nozzle base plug has its greater diameter at the juncture with the bottom wall of the bowl, the nozzles are removable and interchangeable merely by snapping the bulb from its seat in the bowl and pressing the nozzle and plug axially upwardly to release the conical seat mounting. This facility for readily changing nozzles is an important factor in bulb syringes, and the simplicity and ease with which such change of nozzle may be accomplished by employment of a snap-in and snap-out bulb greatly enhances the scope of usefulness of bulb syringes, since the delay and inconvenience of manipulating threaded joints may be thus eliminated in relatively assembled mounting of bowl, bulb and nozzle. Such threadless mounting also eliminates the unsanitary factor always present in the ridges and grooves of a threaded joint in syringes wherein the very essenceof efliciency is elimination of crevices and joints where unsanitary foreign matter may accumulate and which may not be readily reached at all times for cleaning and sterilization.

Having described the invention, we claim:

1. In la syringe device, a bulb for mounting on a syringe bowl, comprising a body of resilient material having .an open end and -a radially externally projecting resilient portion spaced from said open end providing an external annular resilient shoulder intermediate the axiallength of the bulb, an annular channel in said shoulder having as its center a point on the axis of the bulb and adapted for receiving therein a locking ring when the bulb is mounted on a suitable bowl,

In the device of Fig. 4 thel 6 and the' external wan of the bulb being conlcaily tapered radially inwardly from said shoulder toward the open end of the bulb.

2. A syringe comprising a bowl having an open top and a bottom closure wall which latter has an k opening for' mounting a dischargel nozzle centrally thereof, said bowl having a circumferential side wall terminating in a ange inturned radi'- 'al'ly' at the open top, the bottom wall oli the bowl having an inner annular groove at the bottom of .its 's ide wallV and the opposed walls of thegroove Vconverging relatively towards bottom, and a `-resilient bulb having an open end flor seating inthe groove of the bowl, the outer wall ofthe bulb adjacent the open end having an annular shoulder extending radially outward and adapted for seating underthe inturned flange of the bowl, said annular shoulder of the bulb having an annular channel recess therein, and a locking ring for encircling the bulb and having a wedge for seating in said annular channel of the bulb and within the opening of th-e flange at the open top of the bowl.

3. A syringe comprising a bowl circular in plan, said bowl having a circumferential side wall terminating in a flange inturned radially at the open top of the bowl, the bowl having an inner annular groove at the bottom of its side Wall and the bottom closure wall of the bowl having a conical opening, a nozzle base plug for mounting in said conical opening, said plug having an opening therethrough, a tubular discharge nozzle connected to said plug and communicating with the opening therein, and a resilient bulb having an open end for seating in the groove of the bowl, the wall of the bulb adjacent the o-pen end having :an annular shoulder extending radially outwardly and adapted for seating under the inturned flange of the bowl, said shoulder of the bulb having an annular channel recess therein longitudinal in respect of the bulb axis, and a locking ring for encircling the bulb and having ia wedge for seating in said annular channel of the bulb and within the opening of the flangeA at the top of the bowl.

4. In syringe apparatus, a bowl for `mounting a resilient bulb thereon, said bowl being circular in plan and having an open top and a bottom closure wall which latter has a tubular extension having a conical opening for mounting a discharge nozzle, said bowl having a circumferential outwardly and upwardly inclined side wall terminating in a iiange inturned radially at the open top, the bowl having an inner annular groove at the bottom of its side wall, the opposed walls of the groove converging relatively from top towards botte-m, and the conical opening in the tubular extension having its greater diameter at the bottom closure wall of the bowl.

5. In a syringe structure which includes a resilient bulb having an open end for seating at the bottom of a syringe bowl and the outer Wall of the bulb having, spaced adjacent its open end, an annular shoulder extending radially outwardly, a bowl having an open top and a bottom closure wall which latter has an opening centrally thereof, the opening being surrounded by an extended tapered tubular wall portion providing a seat for a discharge nozzle, the taper having its greater diameter at the bottom closure wall of the bowl, said bowl having a circumferential side wrall the inner face of which is inclined outwardly from bottom toward the open top and terminating in a flange inturned radially at the open top to receive thereunder the shoulder of amava' ingtherein the open end edge of the bulb and the 10 ,-ridge being adapted for resisting radially inward movement of the Wall of the open end portion of thebulb; and a discharge nozzle having a base plug .of resilient material tapered complementally l{to'itin the tapered opening in the bottom closure wall lof the bowl.

6. A ,syringe structure having the elements devned in claim 5 and in which the. discharge nozzle is releasably mounted in the base plug.

GEORGE N. HEIN. GEORGE NORTON REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date y 88,695 Davidson Aug. 6,1869 1,488,777 Clements Apr. 1, 1924 1,961,489 Hein June 5, 1934 15 2,066,868 Whittaker Jan. 5, 1937 Hein Mar. 2, ,1937 

